Cementing head



Dec. 2, 1952 w, R. MCCLENDON 2,620,037

' CEMENTINC HEAD Filed July 2, 1951 INVENTOR WALLACE, R. MCLENDON Patented Dec. 2, 1952 CEMENTIN G HEAD Wallace R. ltIcClendon, Duncan, kla., assignor to Halliburton Oil Well Cementing Company,

Duncan, Okla.

Application July 2, 1951, Serial No. 234,799

This invention relates to oil and gas well equipment and more particularly to an apparatus adaptedfor use in conjunction with well casing cementing operations.

In one method of carrying out well cementing operations, mud is introduced into the well casing at the ground surface and forced under pressure downwardly therein and circulated out the bottom of the casing in an upward direction through the annular space between the casing and the bore hole, back to the surface. After the mud has been circulated, cement slurry is then introduced into the well casing at the ground surface and forced under pressure downwardly and out the bottom of the casing up into theannulus between the casing and the bore hole. Under ordinary cementing procedurathe cement slurry is immediately preceded by a bottom cementing plug and followed by what is commonly known as a top cementing plug, the purpose of these two plugs being to separate the mud from the cement slurry column so as to prevent contamination of the slurry. Immediately following the top plug is a column of mud which is used to pump the top plug to a pre-determined level. Such a meth- 0d of cementing is disclosed in Patent No. 1,369,- 891, issued to Erle P. Halliburton, March 1, 1921.

Heretofore, difiiculty has been experienced in I introducing both the top and the bottom traveling plugs into the casing immediately preceding and following the column of cement slurry without introducing air-or mud contaminant into the cement slurry column. Further difficulty has been encountered in determining when, and if said plugs have been released.

in motion. Such cases have resulted in leaving the inside of the casing full of cement, thus resulting in the very expensive operation of drilling the cement out and re-cementing the well.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a cementing head with suificient fluid bypass around the top and bottom plugs to provide for. easy release of both the top and bottom plugs without necessitating the shutting down of fluid 1 Claim. (01. 16614) flow through the cementing head, so that the cement slurry column can be kept in continuous motion during cementing operations.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a positive means for indicating when either the top or bottom plug has been released.

It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a cementing head which is designed to contain both a top and bottom cementing plug in a pressure balance position with sufficient by-pass to allow fluid fiow thereby, so as not to put any undue stress or strain on the locking and releasing mechanism for said plugs.

It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a cementing head with novel means for containing and releasing both top and bottom cementing plugs.

It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a cementing head which can be cast or forged in one piece and thus be stronger than the ordinary cementing heads in .use.

Other and further objects of this invention will appear from the description below.

In the accompanying drawings, which form a part of the present specifications and are to be read in conjunction therewith, like numerals are used to represent like parts in the various views.

Figure 1 is a cross sectional view of a cementing head constructed in accordance with the present invention, the head being shown mounted, on the top of a joint of easing.

Figure 2 is a cross sectional view of the head of Figure 1, showing the mechanism for releasing the top plug, the bottom plug having been released.

Figure 3 is a sectional view along line 33 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a cross sectional view along line 4-4 of'Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a sectional view along line 55 of Figure 1.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the numeral l9 designates the upper portion of a joint of well casing in an oil or gas Well installation. Secured to casing It by a coupling II is the cementing head 12, the cementing head consisting of a housing 13 and a cap 14. The, cap M is ordinarily connected to the housing by threads I5 which under the usual conditions are a coarse thread or what is commonly known as quick change threads so that the cap I4 may be easily 1 and quickly removed from the housing 13. The 'cap 14 is provided with a groove l5 containing the mud pump is stopped and the cementing position with respect to the housing 13 by ribs 23 in such a manner as to provide fluid passage through the openings 24 which are provided between the ribs, as illustrated in Figures 2 and 3. When the bar 19 is released, it swings down in between the ribs 23 to be out of the way. The upper plug 25 is held in position by L latch bar 26 and retainer nut 2!, which operate in the same manner as the latch bar l9 and retainer nut 2}. It will thus be seen that the top and bottom plugs are each provided with a latch so that they can be controlled individually.

An opening 28 is provided below the lower plug. This opening is normally used for an inlet for the circulation of mud prior to the time the bottom cementing plug is released. An upper opening 29 is provided through which cement slurry is pumped when it is desired to release the bottom cementing plug and start the cementing operation. The opening 2 9 is also used for pumping mud in behind the top cementing plug.

When it is desired to releasethe bottom plug, the retainer nut 2| is backed out to the position shown in Figure 2, which allows the lever arm I9v to swing back inside the ribs 23, as shown in Figure 2. The bottom plug 18 has sufficient |3 to allow the plug to drop freely down into the reduced section 30 of the head. Upon the bottom cementing plug reaching the reduced section 30, the fluid pressure from above can be increased a sumcient amount to pump the plug down. As the bottom plug moves through the reduced section 30, the dog 3| therein will be rotated to the position shown in Figure 2. On the rotation of dog M, the flag 32 located on the outside of the cementing head will move to the position shown in Figure 2. By the move ment of this flag 32 to the extended position, the operating personnel will be aware of the fact that the bottom cementing plug has been released and pumped down into the casing I0.

The dog 3| can be reset to the position shown in Figure 1 by rotating the flag 32. By resetting the dog 3| after the bottom plug is released, it will be possible to determine when the top plug has entered casing [0. When desired the top plug 25 may be released in the same manner, the top plug being provided with sufficient clearance to allow it to drop into the flow stream of the cement slurry or mud being pumped through the inlet 29. However, as an extra. precaution, a spring 33 is provided between the cap [4 and the top cementing plug, so as to move the plug in a downward direction upon the release of the lever arm 26. As the top plug 25 passes through section 30, it moves the dog 3| and flag 32 to the position shown in Figure 2, and the operator will know that the top cementing plug has entered the casing l0.

In ordinary operations, the above described device functions in the following manner: A

pump started. At the same time, the bottom cementing plug is released by backing off the release nut 2| so as to allow the lever arm 19 to swing to the position shown in Figure 2. By so doing, the bottom plug l8 drops freely to the reduced section 30, and it is then pumped by pumping fluid, such as mud, water or oil, down into the casing [0. As the bottom plug l8 passes the dog 3|, the same is moved to the position shown in Figure 2. The passage of the plug is indicated to the operator by the movement of the flag 32.

If it is desired to pump mud in through pfl ts 29 prior to the release of the bottom plug l8,

there is suflicient clearance provided at 24 to allow by-pass of fluid around the plug l8 and thus allow it to remain in hydrostatic equilibrium in the position shown in Figure l.

Cement slurry is pumped through port 29 to immediately follow the bottom plug it}. After sufficient cement slurry has been pumped into the casing, the top cementing plug ,25 is released by backing ofi the retainer nut 2'! to allow the lever arm 26 to swing to a, vertical position. Upon the movement of the lever arm 26, the spring 23 pushes the top cementing plug 25 in a downward direction until the plug enters the stream of fluid flowing from either port 29 or 28, whereupon fluid pressure forces the cementing plug down into the reduced section 30, which again actu-ates the dog 3| and the flag 32, assuming they have been reset to the position shown in Figure -1 after the bottom cementing plug l8 has moved them.

From the above description, it can be seen that the present cementing head provides quite a few advantages over those of the prior art in that the cementing operation now can be continuous with positive indications as to when each of the cementing plugs travels down into the casing.

It is to be understood that this invention is not limited to the details or the above description even though only one embodiment of the invention has been shown and described. It is obvious that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit of this invention or the scope of the annexed claim.

I claim:

A cementing head for use in cementing casing in an oil well or the like, consistingessentially of a housing adapted to be connected tothe casing to receive and retain, a top cementing plug and a bottom cementing plug in vertical position, one above the other, and having openings for making connection to mud and cement slurry pumps, acap on the housing and a spring abutting against the cap and adapted to engage the top cementing plug and urge it downwardly, ribs in said housing for providing a by-pass for the flow of fluid from a point above to a point beneath the. bottom plug when it is retained in the housing, latches for holdmg the plugs individually in position, in the housing until manually released, a flag outside of said housing and a flag actuating dog inside of said housing arranged to be actuated by a passing plug and adapted to move the flag upon the passage of a plug into the casing.

WALLACE R. MCCLE'NDON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

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